She did. By the old gods, she did.
“I paint. And I enjoy dancing.” Especially with her. “I have a taste for sweets and I enjoy waking up before the morning light.”
Skittering ahead followed the sight of another torch extinguishing. Unease pricked along his spine, lifting the fine hairs on the back of his neck. There weren't supposed to be any other challenges inside the maze other than not devolving into arguments. This was a 'get to know your suitor better’ challenge. Talking was all that was on the agenda.
He then remembered the conversation they’d had with Lyees after receiving the news of the impending battle for Paliv.
“Patty.”
She stopped, turning to look at him with a question in her eyes.
“I believe our request to shorten the ceremony was granted,” he said, right as a Grekit skittered into view at the end of this corridor, and then all the torches went out.
“Shit! What the hell?” Patty said, as the light dimmed to a grayish red gloom without the torches. A grinding sound echoedfrom above, and they both looked up to see the open top of the maze walls slowly closing from both sides by great red slabs of stone coming together.
Rema met her eyes grimly. “Can you see in the dark?”
Her gleeful smile was the last clear thing he saw before they were plunged into darkness. The low clicking whoosh sound of subdermal armor surfacing and locking into place followed. Rema followed Patty’s lead and called forth his own, the prickling feel of the Rijiteran metal flowing up from under his skin was still something he wasn’t quite used to or one he particularly enjoyed, but he was never one to sneer at a gift. Especially when the convenience of always having easy access to armor outweighed any discomfort. Like right now.
A warbling screech came from ahead of them, and Rema reached for a sidearm that wasn’t there. Cursing, his heart beginning to pound with the rush of adrenaline, he turned sideways, stepping far enough away from Patty to spread his wings, and flew a few feet above him to rip a torch from the wall.
The metal torch was heavy in his hands as he landed, the metal grooved and rough against his palms. He grunted at the weight, and pulled his wings as tight against his back as he could manage, the joints at the elbow of his wings straining under the pressure.
“Can you feel any plant life nearby, Patty?” he asked, scanning the darkness before them to no avail. His ears strained to pick up the sound of many scuttling feet in the dark.
A vine wrapped around his ankle tightly for a moment before retreating. “The maze is surrounded by a garden,” she answered, her voice laughing.
“Good. They have set Grekit on us. It is a crawling insect, with a sting that can paralyze. They are very quick, Patty, do not let them get close to you.”
He didn’t want to frighten her by telling her that the Grekit were long enough to wrap around him twice, with several dozen legs, and a tail barbed with a stinger longer than his leg. If it stung you, the venom was the very least of your worries.
They moved forward together, the torch held firmly in his secondary hands, which kept his primary hands free to use. His claws weren’t as impressive as Aga’s or Ohem’s but they would do enough damage to serve their needs.
The screech came just before the sound of skittering feet above them. He couldn't see what happened, but the thump and crunch followed by the death cry of the Grekit told its own story.
Patty had used her vines to crush one.
“One down…” Patty whispered.
“More to go.”
A vine wrapped itself loosely around his waist.
“So we don’t get separated,” Patty explained. “I can see. Sorta. There’s not a lot of residual light in here.”
The vine had enough slack between them that he could maneuver, but was short enough that they wouldn’t get too far away from each other. It was thin, so if need be, he could break it, but it was a smart idea.
Rapidly approaching skittering from behind him had him turning just in time to bring the weight of the torch down on the Grekit’s head with a wet crunch and the scent of something foul permeated the air. A projectile shot past his face from behind him and he jerked to the side to avoid it.
“Sorry. I had to stop the stinger before it got to you.”
He touched the object and found a thick vine, stretched taut into the darkness before him. It retreated back behind him, and the tinny thump of a hard shelled body hitting the ground soon followed.
He’d crushed the insect's head, but the stinger had already been arching towards him.
“I do believe it is I that is supposed to be proving to be the protector during this part of the challenge,” he said with amusement. He could feel her smiling at him.
“Gotta be faster than that, Rema my dear.”
